Guest post: If the men behave like feral hogs

Feb 11th, 2023 | By
Category: Notes and Comment Blog

Originally a comment by As The Smoke Rises Upwards on Permits for brothels.

I claim no expertise on the subject, but my understanding is that legalizing prostitution increases trafficking of women. Once would-be johns no longer fear the legal consequences of paying for sex, demand for prostitutes soars. For some reason, however, not too many women are eager to sign up for a highly stigmatized job that will require them to have sex with an endless line of strange men who may or may not have STDs.¹ And so women are brought in from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia to fill the gap between supply and demand.

I’ve also read that even legal prostitution—or perhaps especially legal prostitution—generates a sort of social blast zone wherever it is carried out. Women and girls who have the misfortune of living in the area are harassed and solicited for sex. This is why many localities that legalize prostitution at the same time attempt to restrict it to clearly delineated red light districts removed from residential areas and shopping districts. But if the men who are out buying sex behave like feral hogs towards even the “normal” and “good” women who happen to be walking on the street with them, then how exactly are they treating the “bad” and “dirty” women—the acceptable victims—when they’re alone together in a brothel room?

(1) Some brothels take steps to protect their “employees” (read: merchandise) from STDs, but based on what I’ve read, these measures are often very perfunctory—wouldn’t want to drive away customers, after all—and even more rigorous screening practices aren’t going to be failproof.

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